Sri Lanka has opened its first highway! We have reported the ongoing delays and complications a few times in this blog over the past 18 months, but now the time is right to announce the grand opening! The road was opened by president Mahinda Rajapakse, and whilst some finishing touches are still going on with slip roads and other access roads, the general public are now entitled to pay the toll and drive south.

The road is to be extended to Katunayake International Airport and the centre of Colombo. The project has taken almost 10 years to complete, with a variety of loans and Japanese & Chinese funding & labour assistance. Sri Lanka’s road and rail networks suffered heavily from poor maintenance and improvements throughout the civil war. However this period of peace has seen huge development projects undertaken, with new ports, airports, roads, bridges and assorted infrastructure already massively improved. Whilst being uber-convenient for tourism, the road also promisses to be a massive tool for trade and development in the country.

The expressway runs from the suburbs of Colombo to Matara, (more…)